NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250: A Rebadged 9800 GTX+
by Derek Wilson on March 3, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
In the beginning there was the GeForce 8800 GT, and we were happy.
Then, we then got a faster version: the 8800 GTS 512MB. It was more expensive, but we were still happy.
And then it got complicated.
The original 8800 GT, well, it became the 9800 GT. Then they overclocked the 8800 GTS and it turned into the 9800 GTX. Now this made sense, but only if you ignored the whole this was an 8800 GT to begin with thing.
The trip gets a little more trippy when you look at what happened on the eve of the Radeon HD 4850 launch. NVIDIA introduced a slightly faster version of the 9800 GTX called the 9800 GTX+. Note that this was the smallest name change in the timeline up to this point, but it was the biggest design change; this mild overclock was enabled by a die shrink to 55nm.
All of that brings us to today where NVIDIA is taking the 9800 GTX+ and calling it a GeForce GTS 250.
Enough about names, here's the card:
You can get it with either 512MB or 1GB of GDDR3 memory, both clocked at 2.2GHz. The core and shader clocks remain the same at 738MHz and 1.836GHz respectively. For all intents and purposes, this thing should perform like a 9800 GTX+.
If you get the 1GB version, it's got a brand new board design that's an inch and a half shorter than the 9800 GTX+:
GeForce GTS 250 1GB (top) vs. GeForce 9800 GTX+ (bottom)
The new board design isn't required for the 512MB cards unfortunately, so chances are that those cards will just be rebranded 9800 GTX+s.
The 512MB cards will sell for $129 while the 1GB cards will sell for $149.
While the GPU is still a 55nm G92b, this is a much more mature yielding chip now than when the 9800 GTX+ first launched and thus power consumption is lower. With GPU and GDDR3 yields higher, power is lower and board costs can be driven down as well. The components on the board draw a little less power all culminating in a GPU that will somehow contribute to saving the planet a little better than the Radeon HD 4850.
There's only one PCIe power connector on the new GTS 250 1GB boards
Note that you need to have the new board design to be guaranteed the power savings, so for now we can only say that the GTS 250 1GB will translate into power savings:
These are the biggest gains you'll see from this GPU today. It's still a 9800 GTX+.
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VooDooAddict - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
If trying to decide for purchasing, I would cut that list down to the following:8800GTS 512MB - Good bang for the $ but hotter, power hungry GPU
9800GTX+ 512MB - Die shrink gave more speed and lower temps
GTX250 1GB - New board design gives better power usage
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
VooDoo where the heck can you get an 8800gts anymore ? ebay ?The 9800GT ultimate by Asus ? Those are literally gone as well ...
Which brings me to something... I hadn't thought of yet...
A LOT of the core g80/g92/g92b cards are GONERS - they're sold out !
So - nvidia makes a new "flavor".
Golly Wally, I never thought of that before.
" That's why you're the Beave. "
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Oh, THEY SOLD OUT - HOW ABOUT THAT.
erple2 - Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - link
No, I disagree - the OP has a good point. Compare all of the G92 parts together to see just how much real difference there is. Throwing in the G80 part (8800GTX, I suppose) is an interesting twist as well, to show how the G80 evolved over time.nVidia has a crazy number of cards that are all "the same". The evaluation proposed sure would help explain away what was going on.
I'd definitely be interested in seeing what the results of that were!
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Go to techpowerup and see their reviews, for instance on the 4830 - it has LOTS of games and lots of g80/g92/g92b flaovr - including the gtx768 (G80) which YES, pulls out some wins even against the 4870x2....Check it out at techpowerup.
emboss - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
I'd also say for the purpose of comparison to throw a G80 in there (ie: a 8800 GTX or Ultra). It'd be interesting if the extra bandwidth and ROPs of the G80s make a difference in any cases.Casper42 - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
1) You should have included results for a 9800GTX+ so we could truly see if the results were identical to the "new" card.2) If you can, please stick a 9800GTX+ and a GTS 250 512MB into the same machine and see if you can still enable SLI.
I own a 9800 GTX+ and item #2 is especially interesting to me as it means when I want to go SLI, I may have an easier time finding a GTS 250 rather than hunting on eBay for a 9800 GTX+
Thanks,
Casper42
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - link
Casper as DEREK said in the article > " Anyway, we haven't previously tested a 1GB 9800 GTX+," (until now)THAT'S WHAT THEY USED.
lol
Yes, well you still don't have an answer to your question though...
How about the lower power consumption and better memory and core creation translating into higher overlclocks ?
LOL
No checking that, either...
"A 9800gtx+" will do - "bahhhumbug ! I hate nvidia and it's the same ding dang thing ! Forget that I derek said it's better memory, a better made core itteration, and therefore lower power, a smaller pcb make, SCREW all that I can' overclock I don't have the DAM*! CARD I HATE NVIDIA ANYWAY SO WHO CARES! "
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Sorry for the psychological profile but it's all too obvious - and it's obvious nvidia knows it as well.
Hope the endless red fan ragers save the multiple billion dollar charge off losers, ati. I really do. I really appreciate the constant slant for ati, I think it helps lower the prices on the cards I like to buy.
It's great.
Mr Perfect - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
Now that's a good question(number 2 that is). Maybe a 9800GTX+ can be BIOS flashed into a 250 to enable SLI?DerekWilson - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
GTS 250 can be SLI'd with 9800 GTX+ -- NVIDIA usually disables SLI with different device IDs, but this is an exception.If you've got a 9800 GTX+ 512MB you can SLI it with a GTS 250. If you have a 9800 GTX+ 1GB you can SLI it with a GTS 250 1GB. You can't mix memory sizes though.
Also, the 9800 GTX+ and the GTS 250 are completely identical and there is no reason to put two in a system and test them because they are the same card with a different name. At least until NVIDIA's partners release GTS 250s based on the updated board, but even then we don't exepct any performance difference whatsoever.
These numbers were run with a 9800 GTX+ and named GTS 250 to help show the current line up.
dgingeri - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - link
I noticed that the 512MB version of te 4870 beats the GTS250 1GB in everything, and yet costs the same. even when the video memory makes a big difference, the 512MB 4870 wins out. Even better is that the 4870 512MB board costs the same, or at least will soon, as the GTS250 1GB board.Doesn't this make the 4870 512MB board a better deal?